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by 9/11 victim, Firefighter Eric Olsen of Eltingville, is restored by volunteers
For a full year after 9/11, Eric Olsen's fire truck sat parked under the FDR Drive in Lower Manhattan, across the street from the firehouse where he worked, Ladder Co. 15 on South Street.
Eric loved to tinker with cars and the fire truck, which he bought at auction, was his baby -- a 1962 Ford F-600 that had its heyday with the Islip Terrace Volunteer Fire Department on Long Island.
When Eric was off-duty from the job he loved, in the firehouse where he spent his entire 11-year career as a firefighter, he would work on refurbishing the truck and fiddling with its engine.
The day the Twin Towers came down -- killing Eric Olsen of Eltingville and 13 of his fellow firefighters from Ladder 15 -- the old truck was tucked under the FDR just like always. And that's where it remained until September 2002, said John Jermyn of Annadale, himself a firefighter and a childhood friend of Eric.
"It was covered with the dust of that day," said Jermyn, now retired. "Everyone knew it was there, by Peck Slip, but you wouldn't exactly notice it unless you were looking for it."
Not long before Eric died, he and Jermyn had a chance meeting on the Staten Island ferry and got to talking about the old truck, Jermyn remembered. At that point Jermyn was working in the New York City Fire Museum in SoHo, after having hurt his back on the job, and spending his free time going to schools talking to young people about fire safety.
It was then that Eric told Jermyn that he'd love it if, once the truck was restored to mint condition, it could be used as an educational tool to teach kids.
"Eric told me, 'Maybe one day it will be in a museum,'" recalled Jermyn the other day. "I couldn't let go of that."
VOLUNTEERS TO THE RESCUE
And so it was that a year after Eric died, with the blessing of his parents, Taube and Barbara Olsen of Annadale, that the truck was turned over to the men of the Milford Township Volunteer Fire Company of Bucks County, Pa., who offered to restore it after learning of its history from Staten Island firefighters, some of whom they met in the aftermath of Sept. 11 at Ground Zero.
It took the Pennsylvania firefighters two years and $12,000 in donated monies to lovingly restore Eric's baby, which has since been dubbed Engine 911.
This past weekend, Eric's truck made its way back to Staten Island and then to Ladder 15 in Manhattan, via a flatbed truck over the Outerbridge Crossing, before returning home to the Island for good.
Just as Eric would have wanted.
On its return to Staten Island, it was slated to appear at the Viking Regatta Saturday -- held in honor of firefighters of Norwegian descent like Eric Olsen -- at the Richmond County Yacht Club in Great Kills. But poor weather bumped the regatta to yesterday, so instead the truck was driven to its former berth near Eric's old firehouse for an overnight stay.
Yesterday afternoon it took center stage again during a symbolic "return to quarters" ceremony at Ladder 15, before being driven back to Staten Island and the Snug Harbor Cultural Center where it will permanently reside.
In time it will become an integral part of an educational program there, said Snug Harbor executive director Fran Paulo Huber, in conjunction with the World Trade Tribute and Education Center of the Staten Island Botanical Garden and the memorial Healing Garden.
Just as Eric would have wanted.
TOWED TO PENNSYLVANIA
Their own efforts aside, Staten Islanders like Jermyn credit the Milford firefighters with making Eric's dream come true.
The extensive renovations began after the Pennsylvanians towed Eric's fire truck to Milford Township, said veteran volunteer fireman Larry Roeder of Pennsburg, Pa.
There, the "labor of love" began, said Roeder, with each man using his talents, pitching in to retool the engine and redo the exhaust system to make the truck fully functional. The volunteer firefighters also refurbished the interior and repainted the body to give the truck a much-needed sprucing up. Included on the exterior are hand-painted patriotic tributes and commemorations to the firefighters who lost their lives
Labor and supplies were donated, said Roeder. But with contributions just trickling in, they decided to raise money the old-fashioned way -- through a T-shirt sale commemorating the project.
In the end, red lights and a siren were added to Eric's truck, and a week ago a "Bell of Remembrance," donated by a foundry in Maryland, was installed.
"It's a brotherhood," explained Roeder of the bond that has developed between the Staten Island and Pennsylvania firefighters who worked on the fire truck. "We felt an obligation to show support, an obligation to stand up and say 'We won't forget.'"
Added Jermyn: "I really think you could say that this truck has kept alive the spirits of all the men who were lost that day. When you're around it, it has a certain aura about it. I guess you could say Eric's truck has taken on a life of its own."
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